Polygons, Tesselations, and Quilts

Leading questions in class discussion before students enter wiki to read and review articles:
What do you know about creating a quilt? Does anyone have a quilt at home? How do you think it was created?
What do you know about polygons?
How or why do you think some of the patterns or blocks were created for quilts?
How have quilts affected our societies? To which societies are quilts important?
Why do you think people like quilts?

Students visit sites to read about Amish quilts and quilts used with the Underground railroad.
Students visit sites about quilt donation - Quilts of Valor, Project Linus
Students play game to see what shapes or how many can be created from a 4x4 grid where blocks have been divided into 4 triangle each.
Students will create a tesselation with paper.

Websites for review:
http://www.coolmath4kids.com/tesspag1.html
http://www.tessellations.org/
http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/Tessellate/ - a cool site that would help to create a quilt pattern
http://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/tessellation.html

http://www.osblackhistory.com/quilts.php
http://www.osblackhistory.com/quiltcodes.php
http://page.reallygoodstuff.com/pdfs/154227.pdf
http://pathways.thinkport.org/secrets/secret_quilt.cfm

http://qovf.org/
http://www.qovf-um.org/
http://www.mqinnovations.com/quilts_of_valor.htm
http://www.projectlinus.org/
http://www.craftsnscraps.com/links/quilting/quiltingcharities.html

Tools:
Diigo - for note taking
Geometer Sketchpad

Using Google docs create a 1-2 page paper answering the questions at the top of the page and then discussing the next two points. Use the slide show or draw page to create a sample quilt. Explain the meaning of your quilt.

Discuss reason you want to make a quilt. Discuss the different charities that you can contribute to and one that interests you and why.
Students create a powerpoint presentation, a quilt poster, or a sample quilt to represent what they have learned.